Flames burn up a tree as part of the Windy Fire in the Trail of 100 Giants grove in Sequoia National Forest, Calif, on Sept 19, 2021. Sequoia National Park says lightning-sparked wildfires in the past two years have killed a minimum of nearly 10,000 giant sequoia trees in California. The estimate, released Nov 19, 2021, accounts for 13 percent to 19 percent of the native sequoias that are the largest trees on Earth. (NOAH BERGER / AP)

LOS ANGELES - A report from the National Park Service said wildfires in the US state of California in the past 15 months killed or severely wounded thousands of mature giant sequoias, which led to a two-year death toll about a fifth of Earth's largest trees.

Two fires in the Sequoia National Park and surrounding Sequoia National Forest this September, both ignited by lighting, tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias, between 3 and 5 percent of the population of the majestic trees, according to the report released by the agency on Friday.

Two fires in the Sequoia National Park and surrounding Sequoia National Forest this September, both ignited by lighting, tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias, between 3 and 5 percent of the population of the majestic trees

This loss added the two-year death toll of giant sequoias in wildfires to an estimated 13 to 19 percent of the world's population. This specie has a limited distribution, covering just 28,000 acres in 70 groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.

ALSO READ: Biden declares emergency in California over Caldor fire

Giant sequoia can live thousands of years on their way to dwarfing most everything around them.

These trees include iconic national treasures like the General Sherman Tree in the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, which is considered the world's largest tree, standing at 275 feet (83.8 meters) tall with a diameter of 36 feet (10.9 meters) at the base.

Mature giant sequoias mean those trees having a diameter of more than four feet (1.2 meters), and mortal wounds mean they are expected to die within five years after being torched, the report explained.

The report blamed the devastating situation for giant sequoias on climate change.

READ MORE: California braces for severe fire season

Since 2015 there has been a dramatic increase in the area burned and amount of high severity fire in sequoia groves, resulting in significant mortality of large, legacy sequoias, the report said. This increase is consistent with the increases in high severity fire throughout the western United States, which has been linked with warmer, drier fire seasons and increasing fuel aridity linked with climate change.